Undying
by TheNewIdea
Summary: Peter Quill, Rocket, Gamora, Drax, and Groot are sitting around the table having dinner when they receive a desperate call for help from the Normandy, looking for a cure for a deadly disease. As they search for the impossible, they come across some interesting developments-the Normandy is 172 years in the past, with no clear way of getting back. and that's not even half of it.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **I've written this to be as user friendly as possible. Those who aren't familiar with Guardians of the Galaxy and/or Mass Effect should have no trouble understanding it. At minimum a vague understanding of each is recommended but not required. This doesn't follow the canons so don't expect complete faithfulness to either. If it works, expect more, if not, well I can't say that I didn't try.

* * *

><p>Quill, Rocket, Gamora, Drax and Groot, collectively known as the Guardians of the Galaxy, were sitting in the common room of the Milano having themselves a late dinner. The special for that night was the same thing that it always was, beef and carrot stew. Lately, due to a shortage of the supplies, the stew was more carrot than beef, not that anyone was complaining, at least directly, about it to begin with. As they sat around the table, making general small talk, the newly installed AI that was controlling the ship, Victor Prime, was trying to figure out their next destination.<p>

"Let's see" Victor said to himself, for the AI identified itself as male despite having no real gender, "Shall we hit Leos or Tartarus? Which would be more profitable? Based on that logic, the obvious answer is Leos, for it has one of the largest trading hubs in the sector, but it is rather dull. If it's fun we're looking for Tartarus is the better option, a safe haven of criminals, deadbeats, lowlifes and degenerates, which makes it bad for business but good for just about anything else."

Victor set a course for Tartarus.

The radio in the common room began playing the Dobbie Brothers' Listen to the Music. Rocket, in response, began hitting it, for he knew it to be Quill's taste in music, which he had an utter disdain for, mostly because Quill played it constantly and that it was too happy and upbeat for his liking.

"Shut up!" Rocket said as he began beating the radio, which was conveniently next to him, "Either play something good or don't play anything at all you worthless piece of shit!"

Quill laughed, slightly amused in that Rocket was talking to the radio as if it were a sentient thing.

"It can't hear you Rocket" Quill exclaimed as he tried to stifle his laughter, "Stop trying to talk to it like it's alive. And don't bash on the Dobbie Brothers, they didn't do anything to you."

Rocket huffed, "Does hurting my eardrums count as doing something to me?" he asked, "Your taste in music is terrible Quill. No offense to that dead mother of yours but did she ever hear of Quantum Mechanics?"

Quill raised his eyebrows curiously, for he had no idea what Rocket was referring to.

"You mean the fundamental branch of physics that deals with physical phenomena at nanoscopic scales based on the Planck constant?"

Rocket spat out what stew was in his mouth, his face bearing the look of total confusion and loss.

"The fundamental branch of phys-"Rocket began, exasperated, "No, no, no Quill, Quantum Mechanics is a band. Heavy metal. Mostly instrumental, the works that do have lyrics are personal, most of those are ballads. Shows their softer side. Seriously you've never heard of 'em?"

Quill shook his head, Rocket looked around the room to find Gamora and Drax in the same boat. Groot was the only exception.

"I am Groot" Groot replied, "I am Groot."

Rocket rolled his eyes, "Yes I know everyone's taste in music is different, don't lecture me! Just voicing my opinion, is that alright with you Green Giant?"

Quill laughed again, this time making no attempt to hide.

"You did not just call Groot the Green Giant" Quill exclaimed, "Please tell me that didn't just happen!"

Rocket groaned, "I picked it up from you asshole" the raccoon declared, "I may be many things Quill, but stupid and dumb ain't among them. So you can stop laughing now pretty boy because I'm not going to be nice for much longer if you keep this up."

Quill ignored Rocket completely and only continued laughing. Truth be told it wasn't very funny to begin with, Gamora and Drax felt that Quill laughed to compensate for something, perhaps homesickness. They kept these opinions to themselves however and only resumed eating, trying their best to stay out of the confrontation.

At that moment, Victor appeared at the terminal at the end of the room, causing all of them to look in his direction.

"Incoming transmission" Victor said in his monotone voice, "Shall I patch it through Quill?"

Quill nodded, for his mouth was full of food and thus, he was unable to give a proper response. Victor did as instructed and patched the message to the table.

"If you're hearing this then there isn't much time…."

Drax, who was closer to the terminal, stood up and moved towards it, activating the video feed to allow the others to see the speaker. It was a male alien, unlike anything they had seen before, covered for the most part in scales, with a distinct scar, a burn mark of some kind, on his face. Over his left eye was holographic scanner of sorts, also foreign to them. He was wearing a set of blue body armor, the right side of it was damaged, a large hole, irreparable, was located just before the neck line and obviously the cause or result of the scar on his face.

"Who are you?" Drax asked curiously, speaking for the group.

The alien, recognizing that he was on a video feed, nodded in compliance.

"Garrus Vakarian" he answered, "Now please, there isn't much time. Before we continue you must agree to help."

Drax turned to Quill, uncertainty in his eyes.

"Please" Garrus begged, "I know it's a lot to ask, especially to complete strangers but I have little choice. If there was any other way I would do it. But I'm out of options. Out of time."

Quill nodded, swallowing what remained of his food and stood.

"People call me Star-Lord" Quill exclaimed, "We're the Guardians of the Galaxy, what do you need?"

Garrus hung his head, apparently in shame. It was obvious that whatever it was somehow personal.

"My commander" Garrus answered, "She's dying. The crew and I have been looking for answers, but so far we've come up with nothing. That's why we're here, or at least that's part of the reason."

Gamora stood up, she had not spoken much since dinner began but something within her compelled her. She sensed something in Garrus' voice that spoke of desperation, but there was also something else, something that she couldn't describe. Drax noticed it as well, he knew exactly what Garrus' voice was saying, even if he did not speak the words. It was the same voice that he used when he discovered his family murdered by Rohan. It was the same voice that he heard Rocket use when talking about his origins, when Quill mentioned his past, Gamora, her father and sister. It was pain, desperation, hope, desire, longing and fear all at once.

"What can we do?" Gamora asked helplessly, "We're not doctors Mr. Vakarian."

Garrus smiled a bit at this, for he had never been called Mr. Vakarian before.

"If you don't mind it's just Garrus" he corrected, "I'm not one for formalities. Speaking of which, I never did get the rest of your names."

Rocket shook his head in disbelief and sighed, almost as if he were annoyed with Garrus, which in all honesty, was a very easy thing if you didn't know him for extended periods.

"Are you sure this is the time for introductions?" Rocket declared, "That commander of yours isn't going to wait around while we sit here talking out our asses you know."

Garrus folded his arms insultingly, he had hoped there to be as little confrontation as possible to avoid uneasiness and to make any request seem all the more reasonable, but it was obvious, even at the very beginning, that it simply wasn't going to happen.

"Excuse me for trying to get to know you" Garrus said, his voice returning to normal levels, "I guess that was too much to ask."

Rocket nodded, "You got that right Scarface" the raccoon continued, "You don't know us, we don't know you. Let's keep it that way for now."

Garrus groaned, for he hated being called Scarface, for that was one of the many things that he picked from Shepard, his commander, on human lore. The mere alliteration was enough to make Garrus' skin crawl from head to toe, for he was a man of justice.

"It's Garrus" the alien exclaimed sternly, "I refuse to be called anything else. Do we have an understanding?"

Rocket was just about to speak again when Quill stepped in, redirecting the conversation.

"You won't have any trouble with him Garrus" Quill reassured, "You have my word on that. Now, what can we do to help?"

Garrus turned around, he could be heard talking to someone. At the same time, Victor reappeared, this time on the wall.

"Sorry to interrupt" Victor exclaimed, being as polite as possible, "But I'm picking up an interesting signal."

Groot turned towards Victor, curiosity getting the better of him.

"I am Groot" Groot replied

"If I'm reading this correctly" Victor continued, "I believe it's another AI."

Garrus leaned forward as if it mattered on his end, which it didn't, for he couldn't see them, in an attempt to hear Victor better. It took him a few seconds to process the information.

"An AI?" Garrus said, rather impressed, "I didn't think a vanguard ship would have such a thing. Very unusual."

Gamora laughed at this, remembering the reason for Victor in the first place.

"You can thank Quill's lack of administration skills for him" Gamora declared in a smartass kind of way, "He can't even file."

"Who is this Quill?" Garrus said curiously, "Is he that pigheaded?"

Quill raised his eyebrows at Gamora as if to say "What the hell?" and turned to Garrus to give an explanation before anyone else could, beating Rocket by two seconds.

"That's me" Quill answered, "I'm Quill. Peter Quill, otherwise known as Star-Lord."

Garrus remained silent. His stare was blank as if he had become a stone wall.

"You okay?" Drax asked, concern in his voice.

"I'm fine" Garrus said, half lying, as he broke out of the small trance he was in, "Just…thinking. It doesn't matter. We've strayed long enough, time to get back to the task. Have your AI send your coordinates to EDI and we'll go from there."

Victor didn't even have to ask for permission, for throughout Quill and Garrus' interaction he had been talking to EDI and sending her coordinates as well as making general small talk typical among AIs. Victor, during this conversation, also learned that the ship that Garrus was on was called the Normandy, currently under Garrus' command while the real CO was stuck in the med bay.

"Setting a course for the Normandy" Victor declared, "Don't get too comfortable, it's a short trip."

The ship rocked and swerved for a total of ten seconds before coming to a full stop. They weren't even so much as swayed, for they had gotten used to Victor's piloting, which he had to do on occasion.

"And we're here" Victor continued, "Do you want me to dock or do one of you want to do it?"

Drax laughed, "I'll do it Victor" he replied, "You've done enough as it is. Besides, can't afford to be rusty can we?"

Victor laughed in response, for Quill personally installed a human personality chip which allowed him to display the most basic forms of human emotion.

"Quite right" Victor added, "A crewman must always know his ship."

Drax stood and headed towards the cockpit to begin the tedious process of docking, which was something that he actually enjoyed, to the relief of the others, who generally hated it. Quill, Gamora, Rocket, and Groot turned their attention back to Garrus.

"Looks like we found you" Quill said, "So, do we board you, or do you board us?"

Garrus looked out the portside window, he could see nothing of particular interest, the Milano completely invisible behind the mass of the Normandy.

"You board us" Garrus answered, "If we board you…well, let's just say you're going to need a bigger ship."

Quill, completely confused, for he hadn't even so much as looked out a window since they arrived, moved towards the cockpit to investigate. By the time he got there, the Milano was safely docked and ready to board. Looking out the window, Quill was completely speechless, for no amount of words were justice enough for what he saw. Without even so much as giving himself time to process it, Quill returned to the common room to find the terminal closed and Gamora, Rocket and Groot resuming dinner as if nothing had happened.

Garrus stood up from his seat, halfway between the galaxy map and the cockpit, where Joker, the pilot, was sitting and solemnly, without saying a word, made his way towards the medical bay. As he passed various crewmen saluted him, some even called him Commander Vakarian, which he hated, one because of the formalities and two, he saw it an insult to Shepard, who although dying, was still alive and still the commander of the Normandy. Garrus wasn't much for leadership, this was mostly due to poor self-image, his scar on the right side of his face playing a big part. Shepard was the only one who made him feel like none of that mattered, the only one who understood what it was like to lose absolutely everything and still have the strength to get back up and find a reason to carry on.

Passing the ship's laboratory, Garrus, checking in, peered his head, hoping to find Mordin, the ship's professor, a slender looking alien with a flask shaped head and wide bug eyes, working on a cure or a means of finding one. The lab was completely empty, the only things that were in it were lab materials, a research computer, and a decent sized table full of glass boxes, inside of which were various experiments that Garrus knew nothing about. Finding nothing of particular interest and his mind currently occupied, Garrus left the room and headed down the elevator to Deck 3, the crew quarters.

Ten seconds later, Garrus was walking towards the med bay, when he discovered Mordin, and Dr. Chakwas, the Normandy's doctor, a woman of fine tastes and little time for nonsense, standing in front of the door, talking in hushed and whispered voices.

"Garrus" Chakwas began, "I don't think now is a good time."

Garrus raised his eyebrows defensively, he looked as if he were about to destroy anything that stood between him and Shepard. Mordin stepped forward, motioning for Garrus to step aside, eventually sitting down at a nearby table in the middle of the deck.

"Tell me what's going on Mordin" Garrus pleaded, cutting to the chase, "Is there enough time?"

Mordin shrugged, he saw no point in hiding from Garrus so he did what any good doctor would do.

"She's stabilizing" Mordin answered, "But if we don't find something soon, she will die. I'm sorry Garrus, I wish I had something more."

Garrus shook his head, for this was the last thing he wanted to hear, he had given up too much, suffered for too long and loved too much, for it to simply end here.

"But it is curable?" Garrus continued hopefully, "There must be a way!"

Mordin nodded, "Most definitely curable" he said reassuringly, "But it may take time. Too much time."

Garrus grabbed Mordin's shoulder as firmly as possible and looked into his eyes, trying to find answers that Mordin didn't have. The only thing he found was doubt and uncertainty. It wasn't exactly what he was looking for, but it was comforting to see Mordin, who processed emotions quickly, to have these feelings. It reminded him of Shepard's trust and open-mindedness, how it didn't matter what you were, or who you were, good-heartedness and respect were above all else, if you had that, you were on Shepard's good list for life.

"I understand" Garrus replied, "If you can, please…"

Garrus didn't even his sentence, as if speaking it out loud would cause it happen. Mordin didn't need him to, for he was thinking the same thing.

"I know how much she means to you" Mordin said with a smile, "Love, powerful thing, perhaps the most powerful thing. Must be preserved. Good for you, good for all."

Garrus stood up and without so much as a warning, embraced Mordin as quickly as he could. Mordin, uncomfortably, returned the embrace.

"That's all I ask" Garrus exclaimed, "You're a good friend Mordin. Whatever happens, I'll be grateful."

Mordin nodded once again and stepped away, heading back to Chakwas. At that moment, EDI came on one of the terminals on the far side of the room.

"Garrus" EDI began, "Your guests have arrived. Shall I send them down to the crew quarters?"

Garrus shook his head, "That won't be necessary" he replied, "Keep them in the control room, I'll be there shortly."

"Of course" EDI continued, "And Garrus?"

Garrus looked back at EDI, having walked away before, the AI catching his full attention at the sound of his name.

"I'm glad you're taking charge in Shepard's place. We need a strong leader, someone who understands. She couldn't have made a better choice."

Garrus said nothing and simply headed up the elevator, trying to compose himself to the best of his ability and for the most part, failing. When the doors opened, Garrus made a quick right back into the command room and stood at the galaxy map. No sooner did he take his position did Quill, Rocket, Gamora, Drax, and finally Groot, exit the airlock and walk down the hallway.


	2. Chapter 2

Rocket and Drax looked around the Normandy impressively, for they had never seen a ship of this size before. It was sleek and shiny, like a new penny.

"Drax" Rocket said in a hushed voice, "Remind me to wake up in a few hours, I think I'm dreaming."

Drax laughed, for he couldn't help but agree, as far as the ship went, it was a spacer's wet dream.

"Wake you?" Drax replied, "Wake me! This is ridiculous, who needs a ship this big anyway?"

Drax and Rocket's voice carried across the room, going in every direction except Garrus' eardrums, who seemed unaffected by their presence as if he were in a self-induced trance, his eyes squarely locked on the galaxy map in front of him.

Quill and Gamora looked around as well, they remained silent, simply soaking in what they would. When they saw Garrus, leaning on the railing, with eyes distant and far away, they couldn't help but stare in complete wonder. Gamora in particular, immediately she thought of what could be behind those eyes, what thoughts they had, if any. Quill quickly lost interest in Garrus, his mind turning towards the Normandy's crew, some of whom glanced passively as they passed, others going about their business as if nothing was happening. All of them visible and yet invisible, in another world all together.

Groot casually bobbed his head to music only he could hear, he looked as if he were about to break out in a random dance, like the tree was prone to do on occasion. Rocket, from the corner of his eye, caught this and turned around and stopped him.

"Will you stop with the dancing?" Rocket declared, "You're embarrassing yourself, not to mention us."

Groot smiled and produced a radio that he had been carrying around inside himself for some reason and began playing perhaps one of the most embarrassing songs to ever play when meeting people- Billy Idol's _Dancing with Myself_.

As soon as the music came on, three things happened simultaneously. Groot began randomly dancing, the crew stopped what they were doing and Garrus came out of his trance. Quill, to avoid public humiliation, rolled his eyes and turned off the radio, despite it being his taste in music.

"Time and a place buddy" Quill said to Groot, reassuringly, "Time and a place. This ain't it."

Groot stopped and sighed, immediately turning the radio off just as the first chorus came around. The tree put the radio back where it came from. Looking around, unashamed, Groot had on his usual goofy grin and waved, causing most everyone, including Rocket, Quill, Drax, and Gamora, to wave back, slow and steady in complete disbelief.

"Your friend is very unusual" Garrus replied from across the room with a slight laugh, "That's good. We could use a bit of strangeness around here."

Quill and Gamora made their way forward, stopping at the other side of the galaxy map. For the moment they were taken with Garrus again, this time however, the impression was one of intimidation, for he never seemed to look at them directly, instead it was always to the right side, as if he were looking at something that wasn't there.

"Guardians of the Galaxy" Garrus began, trying to focus and bring his mind back to the situation, "Welcome to the Normandy, the best ship in the Alliance fleet. The perfect example of what species' can do when they come together for a common cause, and in more ways than one."

Quill smiled humbly and nodded, for it was obvious that now was the time for introductions.

"Captain-" Quill began, only to be cut off by Garrus, who reminded him of his no formalities, first name basis rule.

"Sorry" Quill recovered sheepishly, "This is Gamora."

Gamora, confidently and with conviction, stepped forward as Quill continued her introduction.

"She's a trained killer, an assassin and adopted daughter of Thanos. There's no one else I'd rather have at my side."

Drax and Rocket, sensing they were next in the introduction cycle, stepped up and took their places next to Gamora and Quill respectively.

"Drax the Destroyer and Rocket Raccoon" Quill continued, "Both incredibly insane and both most likely deserving of strait jackets-"

Rocket glared at Quill, half insulted, he was reminded of his time at Halfworld, an experience best left forgotten, in which the experiments, most of them animals like himself, were treated like prisoners or insane inmates. Rocket said nothing and only growled silently to himself, although secretly he wanted to pounce on Quill for so blatantly, seemingly without effort, belittling him in such a way. It wasn't like Rocket wasn't insane enough not to be thrown in a strait jacket, for he most certainly was, it was more of the suggestion that such a thing would even be necessary. Drax however, being more emotionally sound, shook it off as nothing, in fact, he let out a laugh, it was small and barely audible, but a laugh all the same.

"They're incredibly efficient" Quill exclaimed, now giving them due praise, "Put a weapon or tool in their hands and they'll make it work."

Rocket huffed, "Drax fixing something is the day I'm human" he grumbled, "He'll more likely take the easy way out, breaking the shit out of it, than actually fix it. Why can't you just tell the man the truth Quill?"

Quill ignored him, either because he didn't hear him or because of the comment itself. Garrus turned towards Rocket with curious eyes.

"Interesting" Garrus said, speaking for the first time in minutes, "A walking, talking, thinking animal. Where do you come from?"

Rocket folded his arms defensively and huffed.

"That's privileged information" the raccoon replied, "That and I don't like you much Scarface."

Garrus shook his head, "How are we supposed to work together if we don't even take the time to get to know each other?"

Rocket groaned, for Garrus was starting to sound like Quill, and as far as he was concerned that was a bad thing.

"Don't lecture me!" Rocket said, almost to the point of screaming, "When I want your opinion on something, I'll ask for it, damn it!"

Groot picked up Rocket by the tail and turned him around.

"I am Groot" Groot declared, "I am Groot, I am Groot, I am Groot, I am Groot."

Rocket huffed, "Why should I show him respect? What kindness has he given me? What have any of these people done for us that we should blindly, without even so much as asking any questions as to what we're getting into, offer to help find this cure for a disease that's probably incurable to begin with."

Garrus slammed his fist down on the railing, for that was as far as he would allow Rocket to go. The sound of his fist making contact with the rail echoed throughout the room, bringing with it a deafening, almost maddening silence.

"That's enough!" Garrus screamed, "I will not have that kind of talk on this ship, not while I am in command and especially when my commander is on her death bed!"

Rocket huffed, still hanging in the air, for Groot did not release him, and rolled his eyes.

"Big deal" Rocket declared, for the moment having lost all sensitivity, "People die all the time. I'm sorry but let's be realistic, you have all this technology, this great, big wonderful ship, all these big guns and fancy navigational systems, if you haven't found a cure on your own what makes you think in a thousand years that we'll be able to help you in any way?"

Garrus hung his head, for despite his words, harsh as they were, Rocket had a point. Still, he refused to be taken down so easily, he had to hope, if not for himself than for the crew.

"Wouldn't you do everything to save the one thing you couldn't live without, even if it was the smallest of chances?" Garrus answered, "If I give up now it's like she's already dead. But she's not. She's still alive, still breathing, still talking, still smiling."

Garrus laughed humbly, reminiscing something that Shepard said to him about the capacity of hearts and their ability to love endlessly, even in death. It gave him hope, but most of all, it gave him strength. That life goes on. Garrus wasn't entirely sure about where humans went when they died, the concept of Heaven and Hell having never been discussed, even in casual conversation, but he knew that whatever it is, it was sure to be beautiful. It saddened him to think that in the eventuality of his death, whenever and however it happened, that Shepard wouldn't be there, for this and many reasons Garrus considered, multiple times in fact, to call the relationship off. But every time he came close he saw Shepard's eyes, the eyes that even now, in the face of death, seemed to glisten and sparkle with life, as if it was never leaving her to begin with.

"Forgive him" Quill said apologetically, "He doesn't do well with meeting new people."

Garrus turned towards Quill in surprise, for it had been a total of five seconds since he last spoke, enough time for him to forget Rocket and his insult.

"Please" Garrus exclaimed, lifting his hand in peace, "There's no need to apologize on his behalf. He's capable of speaking for himself. If that is his opinion, then he's more than welcome to it, however negative it may be."

Groot slowly set Rocket down, the raccoon immediately brushing himself off and scolding to himself at the mistreatment. Drax hit him as hard as he could in the shoulder, Gamora didn't even so much as look in his direction.

"Where do we start?" Quill asked curiously, eager to begin.

"If we knew that Quill than we wouldn't need your help" Garrus answered, "Honestly we don't even know where to begin. Much less what we're even looking for."

Rocket rolled his eyes and shook his head, for the solution was so obvious, almost too obvious.

"Did you try examining her?" Rocket suggested, "How else are you going to find out how to cure it if you haven't even looked at any of the symptoms?"

Garrus growled annoyingly, for they weren't that stupid. Mordin and Chakwas had been examining and theorizing and reconstructing and deconstructing everything there was to examine, theorize, construct and deconstruct for the past three days with various degrees of success and no breakthroughs. At the moment, until a breakthrough was found, the only thing they could do, the only thing anyone could do, was watch and wait.

Garrus had done enough waiting. It was time for action.

"Joker" Garrus commanded, "Set a course for Tuchanka, time to meet an old friend."

Joker was on the intercom five seconds later.

"Would love to do that for yah Garrus" Joker replied, "But it's not showing up on any of our systems. According to EDI, we're not even in the Milky Way anymore."

Garrus stared at the galaxy map once again, the only thing that showed up was the Milky Way and explored space.

"Well then where the hell are we?" Garrus asked, slowly becoming panicked.

Quill raised his hand, as if he were in a fifth grade classroom and had been called on for an answer.

"I can answer that" Quill replied, "We're about three or four parsecs from Xandar, two from Knowhere, six from Leos and a half a light-year from Tartarus."

Joker appeared from the cockpit, he never left the cockpit unless it was important.

"Garrus" Joker began, "We've got a situation. It's not good. There's no way to say without saying it, so I'm not even going to try to anything different, we're not in our time anymore."

Garrus raised his eyebrows curiously, for he did not understand what Joker was talking about. Joker shook his head annoyingly as he turned back to the cockpit.

"Whatever happened to us" Joker continued, "However we got here, it sent us back 172 years in time."

Drax laughed, slightly amused.

"Well that explains a lot" he replied

Garrus turned to Kelly, Shepard's administrative assistant and as calmly and quietly as possible, requested that the guests be put up in whatever rooms or space was available. When that was done, Garrus turned towards them and motioned for them to follow, walking towards the elevator heading down to the crew quarters once again.

As they ventured down to the medical bay Quill thought about the situation he found himself in. Here he was on a ship he had no business being on and involved in problems that weren't his. He was beginning to think that he was coming down with something, for he was never this charitable unless there was something in it for himself, like money or goods, preferably goods that were actually useful like weapons, armor, or equipment.

_"Why am I here?"_ Quill thought to himself, _"What is there to gain, if anything? Friendship, who needs that these days? Money? I could always use more of that…Fame? Maybe. We'll have to see."_

Garrus shook his head, almost as if he were reading Quill's mind.

"Help me and you become the third most important person in my life" Garrus exclaimed, his voice low and hushed, for he was specifically talking to Quill, "Refuse and we part ways as if none of this ever happened."

Quill raised his eyebrows, for this was the first time that a real choice had been given to him in the matter. He felt slightly used, for turning back now would be against everything he stood for, which was surprisingly a lot for a man who had little. But it was more than just Quill's reputation at stake, for he also had the rest of the Guardians to think about, if they refused to help it would tarnish what good reputation they managed to have in the Core, not to mention it would also leave a highly ranking officer, and a woman at that, as if it made a difference, to die a painful death.

Rocket, at hearing this, shook his head in disbelief, completely flabbergasted at the news.

"Are you kidding me?" Rocket began, getting more annoyed the more time he spent in the elevator, "You mean we have a choice in this?"

Garrus nodded, "There is always a choice between what is right and what is easy."

The elevator door opened, Garrus stepped out. The others remained motionless, reading Garrus' body language and recognizing that he was giving them an option.

"You can come with me and save millions" Garrus continued, "Or you can take the elevator back up, walk down the hallway, get back in your ship and we never have to see each other again."

Groot ruffled himself and stepped off the elevator, pushing Quill aside for the moment, who wondered why Garrus was giving them a choice at all when they had already agreed.

"We already agreed to help you" Quill explained, "Why are you telling us this?"

"Do you have stones in your ears Quill?" Garrus began, slightly irritated, "If you were listening to me it should be obvious. I need people I can trust. This isn't just for her, it's for everyone back home who's suffering the same thing. I need people ready to make the sacrifices necessary, whatever they are, to see that this mission is done. If you and your team can't handle that, walk away. Leave me and my crew to our misery."

Groot beat his chest and stared at Rocket and Drax, the latter stepping off the elevator accordingly with Gamora following close behind. Quill turned to Rocket and shrugged.

"We can't let innocent people die" Quill exclaimed, "No matter who they are or where they come from."

Quill turned back to Garrus and nodded, stepping off the elevator.

"We'll follow your lead" Quill continued, "Your ship, your rules."

Rocket stared at the elevator button that would take him back to the command deck and then back at his friends. He closed his eyes and shook his head, it was against everything he had to step off the elevator, but step off he did.

"I still think it's none of our business" Rocket declared, "But we've gotten this far together, might as well go a little further."

Garrus lead them to the medical bay. Mordin and Chakwas were out, having gone to the lab to continue their research. Wasting no time and not giving anyone the chance to admire the Normandy and figuring that introductions to the rest of the crew could be made later, Garrus pushed forward without saying a word.

"What's your hurry?" Quill asked, a little insulted, "It's not like she's going anywhere anytime soon."

Garrus rolled his eyes, equally insulted.

"You need to know what we're up against" Garrus answered sharply, "If you're with me on this than I need your full cooperation. No exceptions."

Quill nodded and said nothing, remembering his words from moments before and how quickly he took them back.

Shepard lay on the second table on the left, her body shriveled like a prune, it appeared broken. Dark yellow circles had formed around her eyes, her hair, what was left of it, for most of it was gone, was now matted and frayed. Shepard's lips were pale and cracked, making her look older by forty years. The worst part was perhaps the skin, grey and slowly flaking off.

As soon as they entered the room Shepard, with as much energy as she could muster, turned towards them and gave a weak smile.

"Garrus" Shepard began, coughing up a bit of blood at the same time, "Good to see you, what does Mordin have to say?"

Garrus said nothing and gesturing towards the Guardians, who remained silent, only giving a gentle and meek wave, like one would give to the sick, old and dying.

"These are the Guardians of the Galaxy" Garrus exclaimed, "They're going to help us."

Shepard moved to sit up, the cracking sound of bones could be heard at the same time, causing Garrus to sit down and bring her back on the pillow.

"Rest" Garrus commanded, "You have to rest, you're no good to me to dead you know."

Shepard smiled, her eyes landing upon Quill.

"You look familiar" Shepard said faintly, "Very, very familiar. Have I seen you before?"

Quill shook his head, for the first time in his life he found himself speechless. Old memories of his dying mother flashed in his head, the last time he had officially been in a hospital room. Rocket nudged Quill's leg, motioning for him to lean down. Quill did nothing and simply hung his head.

Garrus, seeing their discomfort, but specifically Quill, grabbed them and pushed them as quickly as he could out of the room.

"What the hell was that?" Garrus asked curiously as he began to pace in the hallway, "I thought you guys were vagabonds not five year old children!"

Rocket rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment and sighed, stepping forward he decided to speak for the group.

"We have bad times in hospitals" Rocket admitted, "We've seen things. Heard things. Quill here-"

Rocket turned slightly to Quill at the mentioning of his name, only to turn back to Garrus.

"His mom died of cancer not even five minutes after he was taken by scavengers. Groot and I-"

Groot kneeled down and placed his hand on Rocket's shoulder, showing support.

"We came across each other right after my escape from Halfworld. It wasn't pretty."

Garrus stopped pacing, his eyes locked on Drax and Gamora, who hadn't said much of anything since their time on the ship.

"And what about you two?" Garrus exclaimed, stopping Rocket with the raising of his hand, "What's your excuse?"

Drax huffed and folded his arms in disgust, "As if anyone needs an excuse for that? You'd have to be blind to not be affected by that monstrosity!"

"She's not a monster" Garrus defended promptly, "She's infected."

Gamora rolled her eyes annoyingly, believing that Garrus was completely delusional with hopes of finding a cure.

"Whatever that is, it's killing her" Gamora declared, "We either find something now or we don't find anything at all."

Garrus raised his eyebrows, curious and intrigued at the same time. There was something about Gamora that he liked, perhaps it was her upfront, don't take shit from no one attitude. Perhaps it was because, in his own way, he was attracted to her. Or maybe because so far she was the only one besides Rocket who bolstered anything that remotely resembled opposition and encouraged immediate action. He went with the latter.

"You are a very curious for an asari" Garrus declared, "Very curious indeed."

Garrus turned to Quill, getting himself back on track.

"Where is the nearest settlement?"

Drax stepped in, for some reason he had taken the time to memorize Victor's charts that he occasionally sent out.

"That would be Leos" Drax exclaimed confidently, "If you let Victor hook up with the ship he'll send you coordinates."

Garrus nodded, "Do it" he commanded, "The rest of you can do as you wish. If you don't mind I need to be alone."

Quill shook his head, "What about the whole 172 years back in time thing? Don't you think you should be worried about that?"

Garrus said nothing and walked away, too lost in himself to give a proper answer, that and, in his own way, he was beginning to grieve. Quill looked on in total confusion.

"What's his problem?" Quill asked rhetorically

"If you ask me" Rocket answered, "That guy has a stick so far up his ass he's impaled. Don't bother with him, he ain't worth it."

Despite this Quill couldn't help but worry. Seconds later Garrus reappeared again, looking as if he forgot something.

"Rocket, Groot" Garrus exclaimed, "Stay away from Mordin. He's, shall we say, different. He most likely try and kill you or something, use you for experiments, that kind of thing."

Without another word Garrus turned back around and continued the way he was going.

"What the hell was that about?" Rocket asked turning to Groot hoping for answer

"I am Groot" Groot replied

Rocket nodded in full agreement, "Forget one stick, he's got two."

Quill slapped the back of Rocket's head in response and made his way towards the elevator. Gamora and Drax however, began walking down the other hallway, leaving Rocket and Groot to themselves and their own thoughts.


End file.
